Marionette



M. M. BONDS.

MARIONETTE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR- 3. 1920.

Patented Aug. 24, 19 20.

UNITED STATES MATI-IURIN M. Donne, or NEVI YORK, N. Y.

MARIONETTE.

Application filed March 3,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that Ma'rnpnm M. DoNDo, a citizen of the French Republic,residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,has invented certain new and useful Improvements in Marionettes, ofwhich the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to figures used as puppets or marionettesand has for its object to improve the construction thereof, so as toenable a graceful reproduction of human actions or emotions as true tona ture as possible and with ease and convenience.

This result has not been obtainable with the construction hitherto inuse. The reason for this is, that the movable or operable parts of thefigures as now constructed, are joined together in such a way that onlyangular movements can be carried out. Moreover, the operable parts aremanipulated from above the stage by pull strings which necessitate theemployment not only of a separate string for each part of the figure,but several strings for one and the same part, to effect compositemovements of the latter. Moreover, the movements that can be imparted bypull strings even when executed with great skill and care, are more orless jerky or sudden, while to effect thereby different movements of asingle organ synchronously is very diflicult, if not actuallyimpossible. The dihiculty of manipulating such string pulled figures isstill more aggravated when several members thereof have to be operatedsimultaneously.

It is, therefore, another object of my invention to simplify theconstruction, and facilitate the manipulation of a figure by providingoperating members, each of which will permit a variety of movements ofan operable part of the figure.

Vvith the above objects in mind, the operable parts of the figureaccording to my invention are so joined together that they are capableof universal arcuate movements, and are operated by means of rigid pushmembers so suspended therefrom as to be capable of transmitting verticaland lateral movements to said parts.

In the accompanying drawing in which similar reference characters denotecorresponding parts, Figure 1 illustrates a dressed marionetteconstructed according to my invention, Fig. 2 shows an elevation of thestripped marionette, Fig. 3 is a vertical Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented Aug. 24 1920.

1920. Serial No. 363,000.

section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 and Fig. l a cross section on line l4-. ofFig. 2.

The figure is composed of a head at having a hollow neck portion Z), atrunk composed of twosuperposed sections 0 (Z, arms 6 e, and legs 7' f.Since with figures of this character, as distinguished from mechanicaltoys, the legs are not operated, they are treated here as mereappendages and have no means attached to them for their operation.

The invention consists in so constructing and joinin the operable organsof the figure that graceful movements thereofwill be attained with theleast possiblenumber of elements and with ease and convenience.

I accomplishthis object by the construction to be presently described,although, it must be expressly stated that various modifications may bemade without departing from the principle of my invention and that I,therefore, do not limit myself to the details shown and described.

The trunk sections 0 (Z are preferably made of tubular members ofsuitable material. The joints between these two sections 0 cl andbetween the upper section 0 and the neck portion Z) of the head, eachconsists of two substantially cylindrical members or plugs g centrallyperforated as at g to receive a spring coil 7L engaging and movablyconnecting the plugs together. The adjoining end surfaces of the plugsare preferably spherically rounded to allow of their rolling on top ofone another. The plugs are adapted to fit in the hollows of the tubularsections and in the hollow of the neck and to be suitably fixed inposition therein, either by gluing, or otherwise. By these means theoperable parts such as the head, and the trunk sections are able to moveboth hori- Zontally and vertically, the joints between them acting likeball or other universal joints with the advantage that the springsconnecting the plugs not only have the tendency to automatically returnthe parts into normal position, but permit the bending or verticalmovements to be carried out in a graceful, more or less arcuate mannerbut not at acute angles.

For the manipulation of the head, or the trunk sections, or bothsimultaneously, I provide a single rigid member or push rod This memberor rod 2' is perforated at its upper end as at 71 and engages with itsperforation a hook or loop fixed o and projecting from the rear of theneck portion ofthe head. The rod which extends downwardly at the rear ofthe trunk sections is passed through a loop fixed to and projecting fromthe upper trunk section 0 so that when the rod is swung rearwardly onthe hook it will pull on the loop 70 and cause the upper section to tiltforwardly thereby executing an arcuate forwardly directed bendingmovement. By simultaneously raising the member or rod 6, the head too,will be given a forwardly directed arcuate bending movement, while bytwisting the rod around its axis the head will be swung horizontally.This horizontal movement of the head can be carried out synchro- Vnously with its bending'movement of the head or with the bendingmovement of the upper trunk section or with the bending movementof both,the head and upper trunk section, as the case requires. Thus a singleelement suffices-to carry out synchronously several movements of one orseveral parts.

While the arms 0 may be constructed on the same principle as the trunksections, I prefer to give the arms the following construction:

To permit graceful movements of the arms, the latter are made flexibleor elastic throughout and consist in the present embodiment of myinvention of rubber tubings.

The upper end of each arm is cut away to form a short flap e for itsattachment to the trunk body. The shoulders of the figure may be formedby a rigid member Z, in form of plate'or the like which is suitablyfixed to the upper trunk section 0. The

' hands m are fixed in the lower open ends of the tubes 6 a. At theelbow port-ion each tube is cutout to form an opening or mouth 0 toreceive a looped member a made of a piece of spring wire or the like,bent upon itself. The two legs of this looped member extend downwardlyin the lower part of the tube or'arnre and areheld in place therein byfriction, at the same timereinforcing the arm The loop a extendssomewhat out- "wardly through the elbow opening 6 of the 7 armttllflCZtIllGS on its lower part a roller 0 or the like capable of.freely rotating thereon.v I A rigid member p of wire or. othersuitable'material is formed with a coil 29 at it upper end whereby it isrigidly connected to;said roller 0. The members which are adapted toextenddownwardly in the manner shown in Fig. 2 and which at their lowerends are each formed with a' grasp p? serv for the manipulation of thearms.

By raising or lowering the members 29 the arms will be swungvertieallyon the upper flap shaped joints Z while the rollers 0 will freely turnon the loops n. A twist of the members 39 will result inthe turning ofthe lower part of the armtoward or away from the trunk portion of thefigure,

construction is that it requires but little while by simultaneousraising and twist ing of the member 79, the respective arm may be givenany movement according to the action desired to reproduce.

Owing to the particular construction described, the movements impartedto the operable organs will always be arcuate instead of angular andtherefore more grace ful, and a single member for each arm is thussufficient to impart all desired movements to the upper and lower partsthereof.

The upper part of the loop a will serve as a stop for the member 29 whenthe latter is raised, thus limiting the movement of said member inupward direction. The members for manipulating the movable parts of thefigure projecting downwardly and operable from below the stage will beentirely hidden from the eye ofthe observer when the figure is dressed,and the movements of the figure executed. thereby will appear morenatural than when performed by the pulling of strings.

One of the great advantages of my new 9D skill to manipulate thefigures, so that the latter may be manufactured also for use as toys. 1

What I claimand desire to secure by Letters Patent is: 1. In a figure,movable organs and a joint between each pair of adjoining organscapableof permitting universal and at the same time arcuate movements ofsaid organs and rigid means for moving said organsrelativeto oneanother.

2. In a figure, a head, a trunk made of at least two sections, jointsbetween said head and said-trunk, and said two trunk sections, each ofsaid joints including a spiral spring permitting universal and arcuatemovements of the connected parts and a single ri id member for movingsaid head and trunk relative to one another.

3. In a figure representing a'marionette, a pair of arms each capable ofuniversal and 'arcuate movements at the shoulders and elbow portions anda rigid member secured joint comprising members engaging the hollows ofsaid organs and'a spiral spring connectingsaid members together, for thepurpose spec1fied.

' 6. In a movable figure, operabletubular members, and universal jointsbetween each two adjoining members, said joints comprising plugs havingtheir adjoining surface spherically rounded and adapted to fit and befixed in said tubular members, and a spiral spring centrally borne inand movably connecting said plugs.

7. In a movable figure, arms each made of tubular flexible material,having an opening at the elbow, a looped member carried by the lowerpart of the arm and a rigid member pivotally connected to said loopedmember.

8. In a figure, a movable head, a sectional movable trunk, universaljoints between said head and trunk and said trunk sections and a commonrigid member pivotally connected to said head for imparting movements tosaid head and trunk sections separately and jointly.

9. In a figure, a movable head, a sectional movable trunk, jointsbetween said head and trunk and between said trunk sections, a

rigid operating member pivotally connected to and suspended from thehead and means on said trunk engaging said rigid member, wherebymovement can be imparted either to the head alone, the trunk alone, orto both head and trunk simultaneously.

10. In a movable figure, a trunk, arms each made of flexible tubularmembers movably secured to said trunk and formed with an opening at theelbow portion, a spring member frictionally engaging the lower part ofthe tubular arm and formed with a loop projecting outwardly through thesaid elbow opening and a rigid member pivotally suspended from said loopand serving for the manipulation of the arm.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MATHURIN M. DO'NDO.

lVitnesses:

MAX D. ORDMANN, Josnrrr T. MoMAHoN.

